The European benchmark ferrochrome price has been settled at 110 cents/lb for the fourth quarter of 2016, a 12.2% increase from 98 cents/lb in Q3, South African producer Merafe Resources said Monday.
The Q4 figure is the highest since Q4 2014, when the price settled at 115 cents/lb. Having held above $1/lb for the whole of 2015, the quarterly benchmark fell sharply in the first half of this year, bottoming out at 82 cents/lb in Q2.
Merafe has a 20.5% stake in the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture in South Africa -- the world's largest ferrochrome producer -- with the rest held by Glencore.
Merafe's attributable ferrochrome production from its stake in the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture was 196,000 mt in the first six months of 2016.
